Across The USA by Dodge
Chapter 16
Friday, July 24th 1992
Next was the long haul through the middle part of Texas where there's a lot of desert and not much else. Well, there were a few places of interest (The Caverns of Sonora and Fort Stockton for instance).
I drove a back road out of El Paso to see a bit of the countryside. I went through a little town called Clint which is your typical small-town American farming community which you always see in movies where the quarterback on the local football team is abducted by aliens or some such. The road led to McNary which is a ghost town where the buildings are falling apart. I remember passing a lady in a car and she waved like I was a long lost relative. Friendly or what?
Back on the Interstate and through mile after mile of scrub and bushes and endless mesas off in the distance with a coyote howling atop every one of them to a speck on the map called Kent where I had lunch then on to Fort Stockton which has Paisano Pete, the world's largest roadrunner. I saw few real roadrunners and they certainly motor along. No wonder the coyote can never catch one.
There was quite a lot of "road-kill" along the interstate including armadillos which are nicknamed Texas speed bumps! I guess it gives you some variety from all the squashed kangaroos or foxes you see in Australia.
The motel was near a bus depot (yes again, the kind you're forever seeing in old movies) where most of the passengers seemed desperate types.
Saturday July 25th 1992
After an hour and a half driving in the morning I reached a town called Ozona which is David Crockett territory. They're quite specific that he be called David rather than the Hollywood version of Davy which he was apparently never called in real life. I got some gas at Shot's Chevron Gas Station and had something to eat at the accompanying diner, served by Jerri-Lynn. It does seem that all female Texans have two name -- Billy Jean, Bobby Sue etc.
I stopped at the Caverns of Sonora mid-morning and went on a tour of the caves, famous for it's incredibly beautiful Horseshoe Lake.
After lunch at a town called Junction it was on to San Antone.
Chapter 17
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